





POPERCH @* 


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| 


‘THE MEANS OF SUCCESS, THE SOURCES OF}. 
| DANGER, AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF 

) ' 
| FAILURE IN THE CONFEDERATE / 


Struggle for Independence ! 


DELIVERED IN 





| STERLING HALL, LAGRANGE, GA. 
| 


I 
| 


On the 11th day of March, 1865. 





Bee EH. HET. 








| 
| “‘* Tt is greatness of soul alone that never grows old; nor is it wealth that delights in | 
| the latter stage of life, asssome give ont, so much as honor.**— Pericles. 





ATLANTA, GEORGIA: 
ECONOMICAL BOOK AND JOB PRINTING HOUSE, 


.V. P. SISSON & CO., PROPRIETORS. 


1874. 











Set aC 


TE MEANS OF SUCCESS, IHE:SOURCES OF 
DANGER, AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF 
FAILURE IN THE CONFEDERATE 


Sivugele for I ndependenée | 


DELIVERED IN 


STERLING HALL, LAGRANGE, GA, 


On the 11th day of March, 1865. 





IB YWeenS;.F4. SEEM. 





S greatness of soul alone that never grows old; Eye se it wealth that delights in 
the tathen stage of life, as some give out, so much as honor.” icles 





ATLANTA, GEORGIA: 


ECONOMICAL BOOK AND JOB PRINTING HOUSE, 
Y. P. SISSON & CO., PROPRIETORS. 


1874, 


I RE-PUBLISH this Speech for two reasons : 
1. Some of those who heard it delivered, have requested its re-publication. 


2. I desire its preservation as the best expression I can now give of the 
moral causes which compelled surrender, as well as of the horrors consequent 
upon surrender. 


With immaterial variances in details, nearly all the predictions in this speech, 
of the consequences of subjugation, have become, already, historical facts. The 
predictions not yet fulfilled, I leave to that inexorable future which shapes human 
destinies in logical consistency with human nature and God’s laws, despite the 
follies of human wisdom, and the crimes of human legislation. 


The reader will see, in this speech, the reasons which prompted me so earnestly 
to stand by the Confederate struggle to the last hour; and to seek, by every means 
in my power, to avert from the Southern people that greatest of human calami- 
ties—the subjugation of one section, by another section of a commonscountry. 


I regret nothing but the FAILURE, and my inability to do more to pre- 
vent it. 


BENJ. H. HILL. 
May 22d, 1874. 


SPEECH. 


—<o 





From my youth, most of you now before me, have been ac- 
customed to honor me with a willingness to hear my opinions 
upon questions of public interest. This large assemblage to-day 
manifests that, through all our sufferings and vicissitudes, your 
confidence remains steadfast ; and most sincerely I thank you. 

At no previous period have I addressed you with so thorough 
a conviction of the magnitude of the interests involved, nor 
with so deep a sense of my utter incapacity to discuss the issues 
upon which those interests depend, satisfactorily to myself. I 
do not come to tell you your property is secure, or your liberties 
are unthreatened, or your lives are safe. I come to tell you 
that the greatest trial which can befal a people is now upon you. 
Are you willing—are you ready, to sacrifice property, liberty 
and life to defend, to preserve, to establish that national honor, 
national integrity and national independence, without which 
neither property, liberty or life, could be either valuable or de- 
sirable? If so, you will enjoy all—property, liberty and life ; 
and enjoy them more abundantly. If not, then you lose sll 
and with them you throw away national honor, integrity and 
independence, forever. Nations, like individuals, must have 
character ; and nations, like individuals, must have that charac- 
ter tested—proven by trial. ‘Trial is to the national character 
what the sculptor’s chisel is to the marble, it cuts away much of 
its substance, but leaves it in shape, comeliness and value. And 
this I can speak for our encouragement, that no nation has ever 
yet died, or been destroyed, while the people held every other 
interest subordinate to the preservation of national honor, virtue 
and independence. While this I must say for our admonition : 
that no nation has ever yet survived, whose people became wil- 
ling to sacrifice honor, virtue or independence, for individual 
ease, or any material prosperity. 

As, therefore, no man can enjoy life, liberty or property, ex- 
cept the national integrity be preserved, it follows, that it is 
every man’s duty to sacrifice all these, when necessary, to pre- 
serve that national integrity ; and he who refuses to make the 


4 SPEECH. 


sacrifice, becomes an enemy to that nation, and the personal 
enemy of every other individual of that nation, and of every 
individual to be born in that nation. 

I speak to you, my friends and neighbors, to-day, but I 
speak of interests that must affect our whole country, and our 
whole country’s posterity. We can have no divided interests, 
and no separate deliverance. I plead the cause of twelve mil- 
lions, living, and of twelve millions, many times multiplied, yet 
to live. And what a patrimony to preserve, what a heritage to 
transmit, are involved in this cause ! 

Since our beneficent Father made the heavens and the earth, 
He has parceled out to His children no better portion than that 
which we of the Confederate States possess. We have an area 
broader than the five great powers of Europe. We have a sky 
as bright, and a climate as balmy, as the poet’s “loved Italia.” 
We haye a soil more fruitful than that of the land selected by 
the Father Himself for His own chosen people, and which is 
described as “flowing with milk and with honey.” And we 
have rivers which can float to the sea ten thousand cargoes, each 
richer than the fabled golden fleece! And yet, since God cursed 
man and drove him from Paradise, thenceforth to be the victim 
of hatred and revenge, and of every passion, no people have 
been threatened with evils so dire, and a fate so terrible, as 
those with which we, of the Confederate States, are now threat- 
ened! For, what to us will be our wide-spreading lands, if 
they are to be divided by the hands of an enemy? What will 
it be to us, that our skies are bright and our climate balmy, if 
the spirits of our people are bowed and broken? What will it 
be to us, that our productions are rich and varied, if, while we 
may reap, another shall enjoy? What, oh, what will it be to 
us, that the sails of white-winged commerce shall gather in our 
waters and along our streams, as the fleecy clouds sometimes 
gather on our horizon and through our heavens, if they come to 
bear away our riches to fill the coffers of a conqueror? I would 
not be sacrilegious; I would not be ungrateful; I would not 
throw away, foolishly, the bounties of Heaven, but rather than 
these evils should be fixed upon us, I could pray that God 
would curse these lands until not a seed could vegetate, and 
darken these skies until not a ray of light could penetrate the 
blackness ! 


: SPEECH. 5 


In view, then, of the great interests involved, let us proceed 
to examine the issue, as that issue is now presented, between us 
and our enemies ; how that issue is to be solved ; our resources ; 
the difficulties which obstruct us; the method of overcoming 
those difficulties, and our prospects for final success. 

There can be no two honest opinions as to the character of 
the issue. Our enemy, proverbial for deception, is candid with 
us, on this subject, now. If we be deceived here, we must de- 
ceive ourselves. Indeed, so distinct is the issue, that, in my 
opinion, this very distinctness, combined with the character of 
the demands which make the issue, will, in history, make this 
the beginning of the second epoch in this revolution. Four 
years ago, our people were divided in opinion as to what our 
enemies proposed to do; and, therefore, were divided in opinion, 
as to what we ought to do. Then, there was ground for debate; 
room for doubt; tolerance for differences, and patriots on both 
sides. Now, our enemies declare distinctly what they propose 
to do, and equally distinct becomes our duty. There is no 
ground for debate; no room for doubt; and there ought to be 
no tolerance for difference, for patriots cannot longer divide. 
He that is not for us, is, by the very nature of the issue, com- 
pelled to be against us. This issue, I repeat, is formed, made 
up, by the demands of the enemy, officially announced by Mr. 
Lincoln to our own appointed commissioners. 

The first demand is “a complete restoration of the authority 
of the Constitution and laws of the United States, over all places 
within the States of the Confederacy.” What Constitution? 
Ah, my friends, not the Constitution which our common fathers 
made! Not that Constitution in which conflicting interests and 
opinions made mutual concessions for the general good; in 
which, the South agreed to contribute to the commercial and 
manufacturing greatness of the North, and the North, in consid- 
eration therefor, agreed not to interfere with, but to respect, the 
industrial pursuits and domestic labor of the South; and without 
which mutual concessions our fathers distinctly declared they 
would never agree to any union at all. That old Constitution, 
the Northern people did not like. Many of them hated it. 
They called it “a covenant with hell, and a league with the 
devil.” They refused to obey it. They openly, repeatedly, 
grossly violated it; and, because of that bad faith, we were com- 


6 SPEECH. 


pelled to abandon the Union formed by that Constitution. Since 
we left them, they have made a Constitution to suit themselves. 
They have annulled all the concessions their fathers made to us; 
but have retained all the concessions our fathers, in return 
therefor, made to them; and have added new exactions of us, 
which their own fathers, in the Convention, disclaimed, and 
which those fathers would have considered themselves disgraced 
in exacting; and which the most fanatieal enemy of the South, 
in New England, would not have exacted before our separation. 
They have repealed the old laws, made for our benefit, in pur- 
suance of the old Constitution; and have made new laws, in 
accordance with the spirit and purposes of this new Constitution. 
And now, they take this new Constitution, and these new laws 
—spawns of the most wicked fanaticism, conceived and perfected 
in the most bitter hatred to us, even while they were invading 
our soil, burning our homes and shedding our blood—and tell 
us we must consent to have their authority restored over us as 
the first condition of peace with them! Did these people forget 
who our fathers were, or did they think we were degenerate? 

The next demand is, that we must agree in advance “to ac- 
cept whatever consequences may follow from the restoration of 
this authority.” It matters not how hard our lot may be; how 
degrading to our honor; how ruinous to interests; how hope- 
less for our children; we must agree, in advance, not to com- 
plain ; not to plead surprise; not to resist again ; not to ask for 
a change. We must accept whatever consequences may follow ! 
Our enemies are wiser, in their exactions, than the Venetian 
Jew. We must pay the pound of flesh, whatever blood shall 
flow, and it must be so written in the bond. If we sign that 
bond, no fair Portia will give judgment for us, and no honora- 
ble woman can ever bear children to a people so bankrupt in 
manliness ! 

But what are the changes made in the Constitution and laws, 
and what are the consequences to flow from these changes? for 
Mr. Lincoln is candid enough to give us notice of a sufficient 
number of them to enable even a stupid man to see that others 
must follow. 

In the first place, our slaves are emancipated by our enemies, 
and we must consent to that emancipation. What need for 
“courts and votes,” after this consent? Well, this change alone, 


SPEECH. {( 


is a great one. Slavery was not the cause, but it was the occa- 
sion of our secession. We voluntarily left a Union under a 
Constitution which our fathers did help to make; in which 
slavery was recognized ; in which, even the abolitionists admit- 
ed it was recognized in the States, to secure greater and more 
quiet protection for that property. It is now proposed, demanded 
that we be carried back by force, to a Union under a Constitu- 
tion which our fathers refused to make; which our enemies 
alone have made; in which our property is taken from us with- 
out compensation, and all at the bidding of an enemy who have 
been murdering our children while making this change to destroy 
our property, aud who tell us they will continue to murder until 
we accept the change, and consent to the destruction. I say, to 
yield slavery at all, is to show a great change in our people. To 
yield it thus to the engmy, is singular, unusual humilation for 
the Southern people. But to yield as a privilege—as a condi- 
tion of re-union with that very enemy; and to be required, in 
the new Union, to pay a full proportion of the debt incurred by 
the enemy while murdering our people to force them to the sur- 
render, is a subjugation which no people fit to live with would 
exact, and to which no people fit to live at all would ever sub- 
mit. 

But I am speaking to-day of questions whose solution must 
affect all the world, and all the world’s posterity. By what I 
this day utter, I am willing to go before my country, before pos- 
terity, and before my Heavenly Father for judgment. And so 
speaking, I declare to you, I think the preservation of property 
in slaves, great as it is, is yet the very smallest interest 
involved in this contest. I believe slavery is God’s own decree. 
If I did not believe so, no earthly power could make me hold 
my slaves until the going down of this day’s sun. In God’s 
hands I am willing to leave the negro’s condition and destiny. 
“Best are all things as the will of God ordained them.” Butas 
far as property in that negro is the creature of human consent, 
I am willing to say I would freely, cheerfully, gladly, if neces- 
sary, give up slavery for independence; but I will never consent 
to give up slavery and independence, for any price which human 
coffers can pay, nor on any terms which human ingenuity can 
devise, nor under any torture which human power can inflict. 

But I say, emancipation simply, is the smallest question in- 


8 SPEECH, 


volved. If this were the only danger; if we, the white race, 
were still permitted to regulate the new relations by our own 
State laws, we might be able to protect ourselves in our political, 
civil, and social supremacy ; and though in a different way, and 
on different terms, we should still be able, in a great measure to 
control the labor of the negro, both for his good and our own. 
Our enemies have seen this result, and they have provided 
against it. 

Therefore, in the next place, under this new Constitution, 
Congress—the Federal Congress—we are notified, “reserves the 
power to enforce this emancipation, by such legislation as that 
Congress shall deem appropriate.” That is to say, the people 
who emancipate the slave, reserve the power to say how that 
slave shall enjoy his freedom ; what shall be his political, civil, 
and social status; and what relations shall exist between the 
freed slave and his former master. The people who hate you, 
who have murdered your sons to free the negro, who impoverish 
and degrade you to enrich and elevate the negro, is to be the sole 
judge of what is appropriate in the future relations between you 
and that negro. Do you imagine such a people will judge it 
appropriate that you should be above the negro? Will it not 
be marvelous if they even judge it appropriate that you should 
be his equal ? 

Let us glance a moment at some of the measures which this 
Federal Congress must deem not only appropriate, but as abso- 
lutely necessary, to enforce this emancipation of the slaves ; with- 
out which, indeed, the emancipation would be idle and cruel. 

In the first place, of course, the freed negro must have a 
country to live in. Now, it has never been known that the 
white and black races could inhabit the same country, in any 
large proportions, without the one race being subject to the other. 
The contrary is the experience of mankind. In former times, 
even abolitionists shuddered at the idea of turning loose four 
millions of blacks to live in the South. What to do with the 
negro after freeing him was the hardest problem for the world’s 
fanaticism to solve. For the purpose of solving this problem, 


the ‘‘Colonization Society” was formed. The object was to carry. 


the freed negroes back to their own land, Liberia, and aid and 
encourage them to pursue and progress in the civilization and 


christianity they had acquired here, and extend both to their | 


vu 


SPEECH. 9 


race still in barbarism. Great intellects helped the scheme. 
Wealth, philanthropy and fanaticism all combined, from the 
North and from the South, to give it success. It failed. The 
negro preferred slavery here to freedom there. Many in this 
very State, freed by their masters to be carried to Liberia, refused 
to go. Some did go. Teachers with books, and preachers with 
the bible, went with them. But even with these helps, the freed 
negro went back to the barbarism of his race with more rapidity 
than he recovered his race from barbarism.” Slavery is the only 
civilizer of the negro. Early in Mr. Lincoln's first term, we 
heard much of his efforts to get some Southern country in which 
to colonize the megroes. He failed. ‘The negro would not go. 
He preferred to stay here even if compelled to shoot his master ; 
and Mr. Lincoln, it seems, has concluded that it is a more chris- 
tian work. The truth is, the negro will never voluntarily leave 
this country. He much prefers slavery. And the Yankee has 
concluded he shall neither leave the country nor remain a slave 
in it, whatever consequences may result. 

But why give the negro his freedom and a country to live in 
and not the means of making a living? He must have lands to 
work and the means to work them. Therefore, as another result, 
our lands must be parceled out with the negro. ...Gen. Sherman 
has already commenced the work. He has already set apart 
certain lands in Georgia and South Carolina, and the islands 
adjacent, for the poor, starving negroes who followed him, and 
has forbid any white person going within their limits except by 
military order. 

In the next place, the negro, being a free landed proprietor, 
must have civil rights, and civil rights are but a mockery without 
civil power ; and all these will be futile without social equality. 
I tell you as sure as there is reason in logic, or revenge in hate, 
these consequences will all follow. They cannot follow natur- 
ally. The negro, of himself, can never make, administer or 
execute laws for the white man. His intellect is not equal to 
the task of either supremacy or equality. His taste, his habits, 
his nature can never, by any innate charm or power, rise to 
social equality with the white race. And I repeat, these ends 
will not be reached as results naturally arising from his state of 
freedom. But they will be provided for by law. His friend 
and your enemy, his liberator and your tyrant will have the sole 


10 SPEECH. 


right to judge of the measures appropriate to enforce the negro’s 
emancipation ; and by virtue of laws thus provided, the negro 
will be entitled to hold your lands, to sit in your legislative 
halls, to adjudge your rights, to be the witness between you and ~ 
his race, to pass sentence upon your acts, to eat at your tables, 
to associate with your families, and to’ intermarry with your 
children. 

Nor is the worst yet told. It will be in vain to give the ne- 
gro all these rights, and establish them by law, and stop there. 
All the laws the Federal Congress could devise could not by 
their simple enactment lift the negro to actual equality with the 
white man. His nature and his habit is to fear and obey his 
master. The nature and the habit of the white man is to com- 
mand and govern the negro. This normal relation must be 
overcome by something stronger than laws, or it will practically 
prevail. Therefore, power—force—must be provided to secure 
to the negro the actual enjoyment of these rights. The Yankee 
will not sacrifice a million of lives and billions of money to ob- 
tain these rights for the negro, and then hesitate to adopt what- 
ever means may be necessary to secure their enjoyment, as far as 
that enjoyment can be secured. 

This foree must come from without, or be found within the 
country. To be furnished from without will prove too expen- 
sive. It will require three hundred thousand soldiers to garri- 
son this vast territory. It would doubtless be deemed appro- 
priate to collect the expense of maintaining this force from us, 
especially as we would be considered the cause of the necessity 
for such force. But, impoverished and enervated, and manacled 
in all our energies, we should never be able to provide the means 
for such payment. The Yankees would not long agree to pay 
such expenses from their own treasury, and the force from with- 
out would be chiefly withdrawn. Only one resource to accom- 
plish the end would remain, and this would be adopted. The 
black race—the emancipated slave—would be armed; and the 
white race—the dominating offended master—would be disarm- 
ed! Do not tell me this result is too horrid, too demoniae. You 
will have no right to judge. That right is reserved, by the 
terms proposed, to the Federal Congress. Your enemy is to be 
the only judge. You are to agree in advance he shall be the 
only judge. That enemy is fanatical ; that enemy is mad ; that 


SPEECH. 11 


enemy is blind! That madness has been restrained hitherto by 
your power, but even now, is there any cruelty which that ene- 
my has not delighted to inflict upon us where opportunity pre- 
sented? Let Atlanta, with her exiled people and heaps of 
ashes, answer! Let Columbia, given to a soldiery licensed to 
sack, to riot, and to burn, close up the argument. I tell you, 
Atlanta depopulated and destroyed; Columbia sacked and in 
smoking ruins, are happy places, where the weary and pursued 
may well fly for rest and safety, compared to the fate which will 
await this whole land, when the white race, conquered and hope- 
less, shall lay down their arms and submit to be the negro’s fel- 
low on the Yankee’s terms. I will not detain you longer with 
details of the consequences that must result from an acceptance 
by us of the terms proposed by Mr. Lincoln to our commission- 
ers in Hampton Roads. I have shown you that he requires us, 

1. To accept a new Constitution and new laws made by our 
enemies,—made in the midst of inflamed hatred to us; made 
while invading our country, burning our homes and shedding 
our blood ! 

2. To accept this new Constitution, and these laws, without 
reservation or qualification as to the consequeuces that may 
follow. 

3. That we must agree in advance, that our slaves are eman- 
cipated ; and that the Federal Congress shall, in future, exercise 
the power to enforce that emancipation by such laws as they may 
deem appropriate. 

4. I have shown you that to enforce this emancipation it 
must necessarily be deemed appropriate: 1. That the freed ne- 
gro shall have this country to inhabit. 2. That he must be fur- 
nished with lands to cultivate, and with means to cultivate them. 
3. That he must have civil rights; civil and political power, 
and social equality with us. 4. That he must have power to 
protect himself in the enjoyment of all these rights against an 
old domineering master, and that, too, to this end: The negro 
will be armed, and the former master—the white race—will be 
disarmed ! 

I need scarcely add, that in order to carry out this policy, it 
will become necessary to obliterate all State lines, and have all 
the States of the Confederacy reduced to one vast territory. For 
this territory there will be but one law-making power—the Fed- 


2 - SPEECH. 


eral Congress ; and from this territory in that Congress, the ne- 
gro, or the white man willing to be his equal, will be the only 
fit and accepted representative. 

As an inducement—and the only inducement offered—to ac- 
cept these terms, Mr. Lincoln promises us a liberal exercise of 
the pardoning power! And, doubtless, those at the North who 
support him, will consider this indeed a liberal offer, since they 
claim the right to exterminate us for the sins already committed ! 

The very terms of the issue, as tendered by Mr. Lincoln, must 
preclude any division of opinion as to the manner of meeting 
that issue. Diplomacy, on its own terms, by its own champi- 
ons, has made an effort and failed at the threshold. Statesman- 
ship has been given its day, and not only failed, but was humil- 
iated before one day ended. How could it have been otherwise 
when Mr. Lincoln had previously plainly said: “ It is an issue 
which can only be tried by war, and decided by victory.” The 
day for diplomacy and statesmanship will certainly come ; and 
it will come early, or delay long, just in proportion to the earn- 
estness and unanimity with which we, on our side, now wage 
the war. Wooing will drive it away. Universal defiance will 
bring it on. If our enemy could have heard from our people 
but one harmonious determined voice of resistance to death after 
the Hampton Roads conference, that day would have come upon 
us ’ere the springing grain could yellow for the harvest. Oh! 
dastardly is the cowardice of that trooper who lingers from the 
battle now ; hopelessly suicidal is that avarice which can with- 
hold its offering now; and hateful, hateful, hateful far beyond 
the darkest thought of the traitor’s mind, is that ambition which 
cannot forget its personal griefs and personal scheming and cease 
to divide our people now ! 

If we were base enough to desire to submit, we could not, for 
all inducements to such submission are destroyed by the terms 
proposed. We could not get back the old Union, for that has 
been more effectually destroyed by the enemy than by secession. 
We could not save our property, for its surrender is the very first 
condition of submission. We give up property in slaves in ad- 
vance. We throw away all the debt we have incurred, and 
which is due to our own people. The remainder of our proper- 
ty, if sold in the most favorable market, would not pay our pro- 
portion of the enemy’s debt incurred in our subjugation ! 


SPEECH. 13 


We would not secure peace. I do not speak to you with 
threats ; but I do speak in frankness. And I tell you, if you, 
at home, are willing to submit to terms so degrading, the army 
will not! The soldiers can give up property ; they HAVE given 
itup. They can leave home, and wife, and children ; they have 
left them. They can endure cold, and heat, and hunger, and 
nakedness. They have endured all these for four long years.— 
They can climb mountains, wade rivers, make long marches, 
walk without shoes, sleep without tents, fight without trembling, 
and die without fear! All these things have been done from 
Texas to Maryland. . They can listen to the bursting shells with- 
out quaking knees, and watch the flashing guns without blink- 
ing eyes. They have heard and seen them in a hundred battles. 
You cannot startle them with the enemy’s numbers ; they have 
met that enemy on a hundred fields without a count, save of the 
slain and captured! They can bury their fallen comrades, and 
still press on. Ah! ten times ten thousand quick-shoveled 
mounds hide the still clenched teeth and fearless miens of sleep- 
ing braves from Oak Hills to Gettysburg. They are in the 
valley of the Mississippi, and, to their memories, the great father 
of waters will mingle a hoarse, deep dirge with the tolling bells 
of floating steamers, while commerce shall gather the rich fruits 
of their labors. They are among the hills of Georgia, and the 
sweet, winding Etowah shall hymn their requiem, as long as the 
iron mountain, around whose base she pours her waters, shall 


remain. And Virginia—unrivalled old mother—holds them, 





to-day, all over her great, wide bosom; and there she will ever 
hold them, richer, in them alone, than India with her treasures, 
and prouder than Egypt lifting her changeless pyramids to the 
skies ! 

And what is it, so richer than wealth ; so dearer than home, 
and wife, and children; and so more valued than ease, and 
health, and life, that for it, the true, brave soldier, is willing to 
lose all, and endure, and suffer, and toil, and fight, and die, and 
never falter? It is that, without which, there can be no enjoy- 
ment in wealth, no home for family, no safety in ease, and no 
pleasure in life. It is the honor and independence of our coun- 
try! And do you suppose, that these gallant heroes, who have 
lost so much, who have endured so much, who have suffered so 
much, and who have buried so many, and all to defend and 


14 SPEECH. 


maintain that honor and independence, will tamely agree, that 
you, who have never felt the sirocco touch of this war’s wild 
blast, shall now surrender all national honor and independence 
forever? Will they agree that you shall say all their privations 
have been endured in the cause of treason? Will they, at your 
bidding, lay down their arms, and like penitent felons, trust 
the enemy they have been fighting, for pardon? Will they ever 
consent that you, taking the friendly hand of the enemy who 
slew them, shall go over the fields of Manassas and Fredericks- 
burg, Shiloh and Chickamauga, and write above the graves of 
their comrades who are resting there, that blackest of libels— 
“Traitors lie here”? Will Georgia write that epitaph for Bar- 
tow, and Cobb, and her thousands of sons who fought and died, 
to illustrate her honor? Will Virginians write it for Jackson? 
Whose hand shall write it, and not be paralyzed? Whose 
tongue shall utter it and not grow speechless? Who will bear 
the message to those foreign nations who are carving statues and 
erecting monuments to his memory, to forbear the unholy work 
of perpetuating the name and features of a traitor? But even 
if the army could endure all this, and lay down their arms, 
think you they would not grasp them again when they should 
see that nobler than Brutus, that purer than Cromwell, and that 
greater than Washington, the glorious Lee, led up to the prison ~ 
stand to receive the sentence of an inveterate, or the pardon of 
a penitent, culprit, from the mouth of such a jester as Lincoln ? 
Enough! enough! Away with the thought of peace on such 
terms. ”Tis the wildest dream that restless ambition, or selfish 
avarice, or slinking cowardice could conjure in the highest flight 
of the most anguished imaginings! The day you make friends 
with the enemy on any such terms, you will make eternal ene- 
mies of your own brave sons and brothers who have been de- 
fending you against the malice of that enemy. You will have 
an enemy in every household, a battle by every fireside, and a 
war that shall blight your fields, and curse the land with horror 


forever ! 
‘* For glory is the soldier’s prize, 
The soldier’s wealth is HONOR.” 
But, even if our people and army were all to agree to submit 
to Mr. Lincoln’s terms, we should not have peace. No, not 
even if our negroes should not be armed, or even the emancipa- 


SPEECH. 15 


tion proclamation should be abandoned. Policy, safety and 
passion would all combine to drive our enemies into a foreign 
war, and every man in the Southern army would be at once or- 
dered to the conflict. Our sons, husbands and brothers, would 
be marched from the Mississippi into Mexico, or from the James 
into Canada, or, perhaps into both! Let us not deceive our- 
selves! The day of compromise did exist. It lingered long. 
It has gone forever! There is now for us no safety, no proper- 
ty, no honor, no peace, no hope, save in independence. 

The next question, therefore, becomes an important one: 
What are our resources for prosecuting a defensive war ? 

.These resources are df two kinds, physical and moral. Phy- 
sical resources consist in men, in supplies, and in arms and mu- 
nitions of war, and in the means of producing and procuring 
them. 

It was my fortune to be one of a joint committee recently . 
appointed by the two houses of Congress, and charged with the 
duty of enquiring into the condition of our resources, present 
and prospective, for the maintenance of the public defence. Af- 
ter a lengthy examination, the committee had the happiness to 
conclude and to report, unanimously, that our resources were 
sufficient, and, with energy and vigilance, were available for the 
prosecution of the war until independence was won. 

It may not be improper to state to you some facts on this 
branch of the subject : 

We have more than half a million of white men within the 
military age, east of the Mississippi river. 

Taking the whole country together, east of that river, and 
we find provisions—though scarce in some places—were never 
more abundant. We havesupplies in North Carolina and Vir- 
ginia sufficient to sustain Gen. Lee’s armies until harvest. 

Notwithstanding recent losses, we have an abundant supply 
of heavy ordnance and field artillery. We have more small 
arms than men on duty to hold them. We have machinery 
now on hand sufficient to manufacture fifty-five thousand rifles 
and muskets (not counting pistols and carbines) per annum. 
This is more than twice the number manufactured in the whole 
United States before the war. What will critics, who can find 
nothing efficient in our new government, say to this fact alone? 
We need mechanics in this department. 


16 SPEECH. 


We have, and can manufacture within ourselves, powder 
enough to carry on the war indefinitely. Lead is not so abun- 
dant as powder, but sufficient. 

Thus, you see, God has not left us without all the physical 
means necessary for our defence in this trying struggle. Truly, 
it seems He hid away in our earth all things needful for us, and 
at the critical hour of want he uncovers them for our use. 

The moral resources of a nation consist in the will—the 
spirit—the determined and united purpose of the people. These 
resources are developed in the highest strength, when all the 
people determine to use all the physical resources to the one 
great end of defending, protecting or establishing, their national 
integrity and independence. This will must be manifested by 
faith—faith in God, in our cause, in ourselves, in our govern- 
ment, and in our army. ‘This faith is manifested by a readiness . 
a cheerfulness to do, to suifer, and to sacrifice. It is the pro- 
vince of the clergy to teach you faith in God. I trust no man 
now needs to be taught faith in our cause. The exactions of 
the enemy have made that cause righteous far above all prece- 
dent. When this war began, no people ever exhibited a sublimer 
faith in themselves, their government, and their army. None 
will admit, they have lost faith in the army, or in the people. 
But, in this struggle, the army, the people, and the government, 
are almost the same. Certainly, neither can be strong, when 
either is weak ; neither can survive when either shall fail. And 
the cause, which all are required to defend, cannot succeed when 
these shall give way. Now, the skill of a commander is gener- 
ally exhibited by finding out and attacking his adversary’s 
weakest point. Our enemy have not been stupid or blundering 
on this point. 

From the beginning, Mr. Lincoln and his followers have 
desired to weaken and destroy our, government, well knowing 
that whenever the people of the army should abandon the goy- 
ernment, we should be effectually destroyed, in all respects. 

Indeed, they believe, that if they can disaffect our people to 
any one branch of the government—especially to the President, 
we shall necessarily fail. This great fact is made very distinct 
by Mr. Lincoln’s last message. He says: ‘On careful consid- 
eration of all the evidence accessible, it seems to me that no 
attempt at negotiation with the insurgent leader could result in 





SPEECH. 7 


any good. He would accept of nothing short of the severance 
of the Union. His declarations to this effect are explicit, and 
oft repeated. He does not attempt to deceive us. He offers us 
no excuse to deceive ourselves. We cannot voluntarily yield it. 
Between him and us the issue is distinct, simple and inflexible. 
It is an issue which can only be tried by war, and decided by 
victory. If we yield, we are beaten. Jf the Southern people 
fail him, he is beaten.” Here Mr. Lincoln puts the whole issue 
of the struggle on one single point. He does not say; if our 
army fails; if our munitions of war fail; if our supplies fail ; if 
our cities fall ; if our States are overrun, or if our currency be- 
comes worthless, we are beaten. No. Mark his words: “ Jf 
the Southern people fail.” Fail what? Fail the cause? No. 
Fail the Congress? No. Fail the President! “ If the South- 
ern people fail him, he is beaten” ! 

I repeat, from the beginning, our enemies have never expected 
to subdue us by the failure or exhaustion of our physical resour- 
ces. They have expected us to fail in our moral resources. They 
have relied upon disaffection among our people to our govern- 
ment, and chiefly to the President. And in this fatal work we 
have had enemies within as well as without. “ Why,” said the 
greatest of Roman orators and the purest of Roman statesmen, 
“why are we speaking so long about one enemy; and about that 
enemy who avows that he is one; and are saying nothing about 
those who dissemble, who remain at Rome, who are among us ? 
Whom, indeed, if it were by any means possible, I should be 
anxious not so much to chastise as to cure, and to make friendly 
to the republic; nor, if they will listen to me, do I quite know 
why that may not be.” 

Never were words more applicable. That enemy who avows 
he is one ; who bears arms in his hands, who meets us in battle, 
is not our worst, our most dangerous enemy. We have enemies 
who deceive themselves; who dissemble; who are here among 
us. And if we are conquered, subjugated, disgraced, ruined, it 
will all be the work of those enemies among us ; and they will 
accomplish that work by destroying the faith of our people in 
their own government. Oh, if I had a voice to-day which could 
reach every man, woman and child in the Confederacy, and 
could open their eyes to this one great truth, our independence 


sa be secured beyond the possibility of failure. 


18 SPEECH. 


There are many among us engaged, in promoting this work 
of disaffection. They act from different motives, and are in dif- 
ferent degrees of guilt. Many are uninformed and thoughtless, 
and do not really design to do mischief. Some are misguided ; 
some are deceived ; some are designing, and some are employed 
by the enemy. To most of these I allude “not so much to chas- 
tise as to cure, and to make friendly to the republic.” 

Many of our people were opposed to secession as a remedy for 
our grievances. They regarded it as revolution, and believed it 
would bring, in its train, the evils of revolution. Most of them 
are earnest and devoted supporters of our government. This 
government has been regularly adopted by the people—is a liy- 
ing entity by the “consent of the governed,” and cannot be 
abandoned, except by another revolution. And another reyvolu- 
tion now, can never lead us back to the old Union, but would 
lead, with multiplied horrors, inevitably to subjugation. It is 
natural, therefore; it is consistent, that these men should give 
all their energies to sustain the government, and should depre- 
cate the spirit of disaffection as the wiliest serpent of the crisis. 
Occasionally, however, we find some of these, who are unable to 
follow principle above prejudices, who still dream of the “ leeks 
and the onions,” and who, deprecating one revolution, would 
insanely rush us into another, whose losses, sufferings and evils 
would be tenfold those of the present. I trust not one of them 
will linger in his regrets and prejudices, after hearing of the 
Hampton Roads conference. For one, I buried the Union as I 
buried my father—from necessity, and in sorrow of heart. I 
would not, I could not, unbury it now; for, decayed and fetid, it 
would stench the earth. A fanatical abolition despotism has 
been erected on the ruins of the old Union, and Southern honor 
could not live in its Upas shadow. 

Many of our people went early and earnestly into the seces- 
sion movement, from the highest motives that can actuate pa- 
triots. Many of them failed in their judgment of results; 
doubtless looking more to the right than the questions of the 
hour. These have vindicated their faith with the highest 
proofs which the noblest heroism can offer. Some have en- 
dured every privation of the camp; some have been lifting 
their voices urging the people to sustain the government; some 
have practiced self-denial, and held their substance for the com- 


SPEECH. 19 


mon cause; some have given their lives, and passed away. 
These all let us honor as countrymen, and love as brethren. 
Almost before the bill became a law, the gallant Bartow ten- 
dered his Oglethorpes—eager to be the first to enlist to serve 
during the war. I suggested to him, that the position he then 
held—chairman of the committee on military affairs—was an 
important one. “ No, no,” he said, “I cannot stay here. Re- 
membering my advice to the people, I feel that the front of the 
fight is the only post of honor for me.” On his last trip from 
home to the army, the lamented Cobb called to see me. Du- 
ring our conversation, he said: “I do not like war; it is 
shocking to me. I desire to live a Christian, and do only the 
peaceful work of a Christian. But I urged the people of Geor- 
gia to secede. I did not think war would result, but it has re- 
sulted, and I cannot remain out of the service and look honest 
people in the face !” 

Noble Georgians! The State, the people, posterity, will 
honor your memories and commemorate your virtues ! 

But all our secession friends were not Bartows and Cobbs, 
nor Bennings and Colquitts. Many of them were very brave 
when no battles were to be fought, and very liberal when no 
burdens were to be borne. These ‘had not much earth,” and 
under the first rays of scorching war, they ‘withered away.” 
They may be found in shady places; many of them protected 
by militia or other commissions, which they would have scorned 
before the war ; and their chief business is to abuse the govern- 
ment they are unworthy to serve. 

Some men, as bankrupt in honor as in fortune, hurried into 
the revolution to make money. They early sought the posi- 
tions suited to their purposes, and regardless of oaths as of du- 
ties, have violated the laws, abused their powers, levied contri- 
butions upon the patriotism of the country, and demoralized 
the people. 

In all countries, some people are naturally timid, and others 
are made so by circumstances. Some are fearful of losing life, 
and some are fearful of losing property ; and prematurely con- 
cluding that, because the vessel of war is rocking in the storm, 
it must necessarily sink, they tie their gold about them, and 
leap into the shoreless sea of subjugation. 

Others, again, went into the revolution with sonorous voice 


20 SPEECH, 


and lofty stride, to reap the honors in liberty’s new struggle. 
They will curse any government they cannot rule; and will be 
a curse to any people who will follow them. Desperate gam- 
blers!| Mad for losses, they would stake their country in an- 
other game of revolution, only for one more chance to win 
honors. 

Lastly, we have some peculiar characters among us, more 
fully developed by this revolution than in any previous one. 
These are men, who, adding to a natural vanity a long domina- 
tion in party tactics, have become absolute in their opinions, 
and are unable to see how those who differ with them can pos- 
sibly be right or wise ; or why their counsel should be sought 
and not followed. These find the conduct of the war is not 
precisely according to the policy they may have deemed best. 
Therefore, fealty to the sovereignty of their opinions requires 
them to believe we shall fail. They, accordingly, prophesy we 
will fail; they find reasons for proving we will fail, and never 
seem to suspect that the very course they are pursuing is helping 
to failure. 

Out of these various classes, that triune curse of all revolu- 
tions—the croaker, the critic and the traitor, is formed. Add to 
these the spies sent in or bought up among us by the enemy, 
and you have the different materials which, though immaleable 
in themselves, form the solid column which, day and night, is 
assaulting the government, and striving to batter it down in the 
confidence of the people. Having nothing to keep them to- 
gether but a common hatred to the government, it is the testi- 
mony of all history, that whenever they succeed in destroying 
the government, they invariably fall to fighting each other, and 
the people who are deluded to follow them, divide into factions, 
and rush headlong into anarchy. 

The two characters which furnish the most dangerous materi- 
als for this work of disaffection and demoralization, are i ava- 
ricious and the ambitious. 

T have nothing to say against legitimate trade. The man 
who made his living by honest trade before the war, if not called 
into military service, may properly continue his calling. The 
honest middle man is necessary to the non-producing class of 
society. Nor will I stop now to develop the sin of the unofficial 
citizen who takes advantage of political, social and commercial 


SPEECH, 21 


disruptions, to gather fortunes. It would be expecting too much 
of our people to look for the sublime spectacle of universal self- 
denial. Nevertheless, if it could have been so, this stream of 
blood would long since have ceased. 

But I cannot pass by the office-holding speculator, without 
leaving on record my opinion of the unpatriotic and ruinous 
nature and effect of his dealing. I deny that office holders have 
the right to speculate at any time. All history shows it is cor- 
rupting; and no government ever remained faithful to itself, or 
to the people, whose administrators became traffickers. But in 
times like these, the error becomes a crime—a crime against the 
public faith and the public weal. 

It was very clear from the beginning, that this war could 
only be conducted on the public credit. The note of the gov- 
ernment was certainly to become the only currency with the 
army and the people. It, therefore, became the solemn official 
duty of every man in office, State and Confederate, to make, to 
administer, and to execute the laws with special reference to the 
protection and preservation of this credit. It is another fact, 
equally clear in reason, and beyond doubt in the history of the 
times, that the amount of profits in trade has been measured by 
the amount of depreciation of this public credit. Here then is 
the dilemma: It is the office holder’s duty to preserve the public 
credit ; it is the speculator’s interest to depreciate that credit. If 
the office holder and the speculator be one, which feeling will 
control—duty or interest? I deny that any man has the right 
to make the conflict, or that any people ought to risk the hazard. 

Nor can the subject matter of the trade change or lessen the 
guilt. It is the speculation, not the thing speculated in, that 
depreciates the credit. In fact, large dealings in property, stocks, 
bonds, and foreign commerce, are the more culpable because they 
do more to depreciate the credit, and furnish a more unrestrained 
field for the elasticity of conscience, than dealing in provisions. 
And provision dealers only hoard their supplies, because they 
know property dealers will certainly carry up the price by de- 
preciating the currency. 

Speculations are, besides, exciting and absorbing to the mind, 
and no man, so habitually engaged, can be fit for the grave and 
heavy duties of official station in times like these. 

The example, also, is disastrous. When people see those whose 


22 SPEECH. 


duty it is to represent the public interest, and preserve the pub- 
lic credit, engaged in trafficking, they engage, themselves, more 
readily in the business ; and subordinate officers throughout the 
country are glad to cover their sins with the example of those in 
higher station ; and thus the contagion permeates all degrees of 
office, and all ranks of society. The public credit rapidly de- 
preciates ; the public debt, and the public burdens, rapidly in- 
crease ; demoralization spreads ; the guilty become corrupt and 
careless ; the honest become troubled and discouraged ; the critics 
find grounds for cavil; and the government is weakened in all 
its sinews. 

Plato had a maxim, that “when officials bought and sold, the 
State became corrupt.” 

It was forbidden in Sparta, and by positive laws in Rome. 
Verres, as Governor of Sicily, violated this law, and went back 
to Rome, at the close of his service, immensely rich. But the 
eloquence of the great and pure Cicero has made him infamous 
to this day. . 

“Whence comes it,’”’ said Demosthenes, in one of his patriotic 
appeals to arouse the Athenians, “that all the Greeks once pant- 
ed so strongly after liberty, and now run so eagerly in servitude ? 
The reason is, because there prevailed, at that time, among the 
people, what prevails no longer among us ; that which triumphed 
over the riches of the Persians ; which maintained the freedom 
of Greece. Neither their orators nor their generals exercised 
the scandalous traffic now become so common in Athens, where 
a price is set upon everything, and where all things are sold to 
the highest bidder.” 

History is full of examples, from Demosthenes to Washing- 
ton, that true statesmen have always declaimed against official 
traffic ; and that a people who tolerated it have always suffered 
heavy penalties. It is gratifying to know, that among the high- 
est officers of our Confederate government, this sin does not 
prevail. 

Those men among us, who became disaffected because of dis- 
appointed or ungratified ambition, are by far the most danger- 
ous. They are often men of ability and experience, and gener- 
ally furnish the arguments for all, who, from any cause, oppose 
the government. They exhibit a “devilish malice” in the 
adroitness by which they clothe falsehoods in the garb of truth. 


SPEECH. 23 


They profess great love for the Constitution, the rights of States, 
and the liberties of the people generally ; and manifest that love 
by denouncing all the strong measures of the government, 
adopted to carry on the war, as unconstitutional, oppressive, and 
subversive of civil liberty. All governments, in revolutions of 
half the magnitude of this, have found it necessary to suspend 
the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus. All history shows 
this is necessary to restrain treason and secret schemings to un- 
dermine and destroy the government. It is necessary to protect 
the patriotic and the faithful. It is aimed to weaken the arm of 
disaffection. It is natural that all those who work disaffection 
should oppose the suspension, and very many good men become 
alarmed by their earnest appeals, lest the government is seeking 
to become a military despotism. 

Again: It is not possible to conduct a struggle of such pro- 
portion without employing many agents throughout this vast 
country. It is equally impossible always to secure intelligent, 
upright and faithful agents, and many of them violate the laws 
and deal oppressively with the people. All these acts of faith- 
less agents are ascribed to the government and the laws by the 
designing and disaffected critics. 

There are many hardships incident to the war. Burdens are 
necessarily heavy. Marauders rob the people and defy the laws. 
Disasters will happen to our arms. The stronger power will 
overrun the country and commit desolations. Strong measures 
are absolutely necessary to compel men to discharge dangerous 
and unpleasant duties, and make sacrifices. All these things are 
inseparable from war. Yet critics and designing men never lose 
an opportunity to ascribe all these hardships and misfortunes to 
the blunders or incompetency of those who administer the gov- 
ernment and conduct the war. This is a favorite species of ar- 
gument not only with critics, but also with spies and traitors.— 
It is easily made plausible. It comes home to the feeling of the 
people, and it requires intelligence and patriotism to detect the 
miserable sophistry. It seems to exhibit also a sympathy with 
the people, and thus secures their confidence, and thus prepare 
the way to misrepresent the acts and malign the motives of those 
in power, and thus to disaffect the people. 

The Southern people are naturally confiding, and designing 
men always profess good motives. The Serpent professed a great 


24 SPEECH. 


regard for mother Eve when he sought to disaffect her to the 
Ruler of Heaven. He made her believe that God was a despot 
and dealt untruly with her. And from that day to this, that 
has been a fayorite argument and a favorite manner of using the 
argument, to disaffect a people to constituted authority. Cata- 
line used itin Rome. Arnold used it in the first revolution. 
And, though I will not say, for I do not believe, all who are 
using it now are Catalines and Arnolds, yet I will say that every 
Cataline and Arnold, every spy and traitor in the land, are using 
all these very arguments this very day, and for the one great 
purpose of disaffecting the people to the government. If the 
curtain which conceals men’s hearts could be lifted, I have no 
doubt there are men now in this country in the employ of the 
enemy, editing papers, and in various ways, and from many po- 
sitions, instructing the public mind. Remember, “’twas not 
Philip, but Philip’s gold, that took the cities of Greece!” 

If a man desires only to do justice and circulate the truth, 
why should he misrepresent facts, pervert the laws, and attribute 
false motives to the government? Why is it that neither the 
Congress, nor the President, can do anything to please them ? 
Why do they use arguments which justify desertions from the 
army, and then attribute these desertions to the policy and laws 
of the land ? 

It has been found necessary, in all revolutions like this, for 
the government to keep its secrets. There are many facts and 
reasons entering into the making of the laws, and in conducting 
the war, which the enemy ought not to know. The Congress of 
the first revolution sat in secret. Our Congress has found it ne- 
cessary to do the same. Now, how can he be honest, or true, or 
patriotic, who represents to the people that the object of the 
Congress is to conceal the votes, and hide the reasons of the 
members ? 

Of all the assaults that are made upon the President, and the 
Cabinet, and the Congress, I regard none as so manifestly dis- 
honorable, as the advantage which is taken of this very necessi- 
ty of secrecy. The heaviest assaults are made on these very 
measures and operations, the reasons for which are often most 
necessary to be concealed from the public enemy. It matters 
not how many misstatements are made, how many false motives 
are charged, there can be no defence, for defence would require 


SPEECH. 295 


, 


the truth to be told, and this would damage the public interests. 
This is taking advantage of the patriotism of those in authority, 
to destroy the public confidence. Can anything in treason itself 
be more dishonorable ? 

I have heard the President say, on several occasions, “ If my 
enemies would tell falsehoods which injured only me, it would 
be a matter of small moment. But they make statements ut- 
terly perverting the truth, which damage the public interests, 
and which cannot be corrected without exposing facts which 
would damage the public interest still more greatly.” 

Washington often made similar complaints. In one of his 
letters to Mr. Laurens, he uses this strong language : 

“My enemies take an ungenerous advantage of me. They 
know the delicacy of my situation, and that motives of policy 
deprive me of the defence I might otherwise make against their 
insidious attacks. They know I cannot combat their insinua- 
tions, however injurious, without disclosing facts, which it is of 
the utmost importance to conceal.” 

How is it possible, that men who will take such a dishonora- 
ble advantage can be patriots ; and how can those who are pa- 
triots, believe any thing such men say ? 

The greatest generals cannot escape the criticisms of these 
designing “sappers and miners” of the public confidence. 
They assume to know more about military campaigns and mili- 
tary strategy, than the best commanders. 

In one of the most trying periods of Roman history, Paulus 
Emillus—a great and good man—was called by the unanimous 
voice of the people a second time to the consulship. He deter- 
mined to take command‘of the army, then engaged in a hard 
struggle in Macedonia. Before leaving Rome, he called the 
people together, and made them a speech, which was so full of 
wisdom, that it has been preserved to this day. Allow me to 
read you a portion of that speech. He said : 

“There are those who, in company, and even at tables, com- 
mand armies, regulate the disposition of the forces, and pre- 
scribe all the operations of the campaign. They know better 
than we, where we should encamp, and what posts it is necessa- 
ry for us to seize; at what time, and by what defile, we ought 
to enter Macedonia; where it is proper to establish our maga- 
zines ; from whence, either by sea or land, we are to bring pro- 


26 SPEECH. 


visions ; when we are to fight the enemy, and when to lie still. 
They not only prescribe what is best to be done, but, for devia- 
ting ever so little from their plans, they make it a crime in 
their Consul, and cite him before their tribunal.” In this day, 
they would call a convention, to amend the Constitution, to get 
rid of him. “ But know, Romans, this is a great impediment 
with your generals. All have not the resolution and constancy, 
like Fabius, to despise impertinent critics. He could choose 
rather to suffer the people, upon such rumors, to invade his au- 
thority, than to ruin the business of the State, in order to secure 
to himself their good opinion, and an empty name. If there 
be any one, who conceives himself capable of assisting me with 
his counsels, in the war you have charged me with, let him not 
refuse to do the republic that serviee, but let him go with me 
into Macedonia; a ship, horses, tents, provisions, shall all be 
supplied at my charge. But, if he will not take so much trou- 
ble, and prefers the tranquility of the city to the dangers and 
fatigues of the field, let him not take upon him to hold the 
helm, and continue idle in port. We shall pay no regard 
to any counsels, but such as shall be given us in the camp 
itself.” 

The learned historian who reports this speech, makes the fol- 
lowing pointed comment : 

“This discourse of Paulus Emilius, which abounds with 
reason and good sense, shows that men are the same in all ages 
of the world. People have an incredible itch for examining, 
criticising and condemning the conduct of generals, and do not 
observe, that by so doing, they act in manifest contradiction to 
reason and justice ; for, what can be more absurd and ridiculous 
than to see persons, without any knowledge or experience in 
war, set themselves up for censors of the most able generals, and 
pronounce, with a magisterial air, upon their actions! But, we 
must not expect to see a failing reformed, that has its source in 
the curiosity and vanity of human nature; and generals would 
do wisely, after the example of Paulus Emilius, to despise these 
city reports, and crude opinions of idle people, who have noth- 
ing else to do, and have generally as little judgment as business.” 

Meeting with Gen. Lee, soon after Gen. Bragg was relieved 
of the command of the Army of the Tennessee, and feeling 
great interest in the question, I asked him to suggest to the 


SPEECH. 27 


President the most proper general to take command of that 
army. He promptly said he knew of no better officer in the 
service that Gen. Bragg. I told him I certainly pronounced no 
opinion against Gen. Bragg, but, right or wrong, critics, or sub- 
ordinate officers, or both, had destroyed his usefulness, with that 
army, and some one else would now have to command it. 
“This is true ; unfortunately true,” said the great man, and 
then with a dignified sarcasm I shall never forget, he made the 
following speech: ‘ We made one great mistake, Mr. Hill, in 
the beginning of this revolution, and I fear we shall never get 
rid of the blunders that follow from it. We put all our worst 
generals to commanding our armies, and all our best generals to 
editing newspapers! These editing generals alone can see be- 
fore hand everything that ought to be done in a campaign, and 
how a battle ought to be fought, and never make mistakes. I 
have planned several campaigns and battles and have taken 
great pains and did my best, and sometimes I have thought 
they could not be improved; but when I had gone through 
with the campaign or fought the battles, I have seen where they 
could have been better, and have had to regret I could not fore- 
see and avoid some of the errors. Afterwards, on reading some 
paper, I found those best generals saw all the mistakes from the 
beginning, but were not kind enough to point them out until it 
was too late. And now,” added the patriot, “I desire to serve 
my country in this struggle in any position in which I can be 
useful. I think we ought to have our best military talent in 
the field. I have done the best I could commanding the army, 
and I know I have committed errors and made failures ; and it 
some of these better generals will come and take my place, I am 
willing to do my best toserve my country editing a newspaper.” 
I have endeavored to be explicit in explaining the causes 
which impair our moral resources, and thereby prevent the ef- 
ficient use of our physical resources, because I know they con- 
stitute the greatest obstacle in the way of our success. The en- 
emy may overrun our country, but they can never hold it, with- 
out the consent of our people. They conceded this much when 
they abandoned Atlanta. Our people will never consent to 
subjugation, unless their minds are first disaffected to our own 
government. “If the Southern people fail the insurgent lea- 
der,” said Mr. Lincoln, “he is beaten.” Mr. Lincoln knows 


28 SPEECH. 


he can never be beaten in any other way. The critics, the 
spies, and the traitors, among us, know it. These are our most 
dangerous enemies, because they, alone, can assault and destroy 
this fidelity of the people. Mr. Lincoln confesses his hopes lie 
in this infidelity. He says, “some of them, we know, already 
desire peace and reunion. J'he number of such may increase.” 
Yes, they are among us, and they will increase. We had but 
few of these critics and destroyers of the public confidence, in 
the beginning. As the war has progressed, and its burdens in- 
creased, and its hardships multiplied, they have increased. They 
thrive on their country’s disasters. We shall have other disas- 
ters, and they will grow in boldness and numbers. They have 
always done so. They strengthen on the misfortunes that befall 
our cause and oppress our people, as the vultures fatten on the 
torn flesh of their prey. 

They have already done much to produce and justify deser- 
tions from the army. ‘They have done much to dissatisfy the 
people, and induce them to hold back their supplies. They 
have done much to prevent our recognition by foreign powers. 
They have done much to encourage Mr. Lincoln in the hope, 
that the “Southern people would yet fail their leader, and cause 
him to be beaten.” They have done much to break down every 
movement at the North calculated to stop the shedding of blood, 
and to inaugurate the peaceful counsels of negotiation; for the 
North will never negotiate while they are made to believe they 
can conquer. They have done much to prolong this war, and 
to murder our people in battle. I know the time has come 
when these enemies within will make fresh assaults, with greater 
boldness ; and, therefore, it is, I have come home to raise my 
voice of warning against them. I know the grievances, all petty 
and imaginary, that redden the eyes with vengeance and make 
the words drop oily from the tongue, while the purpose grows 
dark in the heart; and I dread, this day, the subtle power of 
the serpent that coils within the garden, far more than I doa 
million of bayonets bristling without the walls! 

There is but one way to fight these enemies among us. The 
people must support the government which Mr. Lincoln, and 
these, his co-workers, fight. It is your government, my coun- 
trymen. It is fighting your battles, and toiling, day and night, 
to establish your rights and liberties. Support the President ; 


SPEECH. 29 


support the laws ; support the generals ; supply the army ; drive 
off the traitors ; confound the crities ; and then you will be able 
to defy the enemy; arrest disasters, and win independence. There 
are many roads to failure and bondage. You may drift there 
by lethargy ; you may wind there by treason; you may rush 
‘there by faction. There is but one road to success and freedom. 
It may be narrow, and require toil, and patience, and sacrifice, 
but you are certainly traveling that road, when you support your 
own regular Confederate government. Every man who teaches 
you otherwise, is your enemy. 

And never had any people a government which they could 
more safely trust. You may summon a thousand conventions ; 
you may let every carping factionist be tried in his turn; you 
may cross your lines, and select from all the cabinets of the 
world, and you will get no better chief Executive than him 
whom God and your own votes have given you. 


You may resurrect all the Alexanders, and Napoleons, and 
Washingtons, of all ages of the world, and you will never get a 
better general than your own unrivalled Lee. 


And, if you could combine, in one, the power of the Macedo- 
nian phalanx, the fidelity of the Roman Legion, and the earnest 
fire of the French Guards, you could not get a better army than 
that composed of your own sons, brothers, and husbands, who 
have fought on an hundred fields; who have endured untold 
privations, and who still, unmurmuring, unfaltering and un- 
flinching, face the mongrel invaders of our homes. 

My faith has grown with every year of the struggle. That 
faith rests on the known patriotism of our leaders; the tried 
courage of our army ; the virtue and intelligence of the people, 
and the justice of a chastising, and mercy of a not always 
offended, God. The campaign of 1864 has taught me to know 
what I always believed—that this vast country cannot be held 
by an enemy against the will of our people. I dread no enemy, 
therefore, as I do the factionist. But I know this same enemy 
helped the hosts of Persia against the Greeks, and was overcome. 
This enemy helped the power of the conquering Hannibal 
against the yet feeble Romans and was overcome. This enemy 
helped the haughty and cruel Spaniard against the Netherlands, 
and was overcome. This enemy joined the ranks of the British 


30 SPEECH. 


and Indians and tories against our fathers under Washington, 
and was overcome. And I believe the Confederates are as 
brave as the Greeks, patriotic as the Romans, determined as the 
Dutch, and as true as even their fathers. And neither of these 
were ever threatened with such a fate as that with which our 
enemies threaten us. When every other resource shall fail, the’ 
cruelty of our enemy’s terms of peace, will still drive us to resis- 
tance. It is natural we should be punished severely, because 
our sins have been many. For many years, in the old govern- 
ment, wrangling aspirants for place, losing sight of the great 
duties of statesmanship, were solely engaged in heating the fur- 
nace of passion and hate. In the beginning of this revolution 
there were deceptions, and frauds, and errors, on all sides; but 
the abolitionists alone moved to their work with deliberate cal- 
culating malice against the rights of man and the decrees of 
God. Therefore, while all of us must suffer, the enemy must 
finally fail. 

We are able to come out of this struggle with constitutional 
government retained, with liberty enjoyed, and with slavery 
preserved. The first two are our rights, and so dear, that war 
with them, is better than peace without them. The last is God’s 
law, and He is stronger than any arm of flesh. 

If a man shall stand on the banks of the Mississippi, and 
watch the misfortunes that occur upon, and by reason of the 
waters of the mighty river, he will see much to sadden and dis- 
comfort him. He will see that when a man falls in the middle 
of the stream, he can swim to neither shore, but must go to the 
bottom. He will see floating palaces striking snags, or meeting 
with other accidents, and going beneath the mocking waves 
with all on board. And, anon, he will see the flood swell high 
and break from its bounds; and now he will see beautiful homes 
swept away; and man and beast alike, perishing in the deluge. 
And then, if he will close his eyes, and not see that for one man 
who perishes in that river a thousand live from it; that for one 
steamer that sinks, a thousand ride safely, with wealth, and life, 
and joy, over its surface; if he will not survey the wide alluvion 
spreading from either bank, gathering richness from the swell- 
ing flood, and producing food and raiment for millions of people 
throughout the earth, he would naturally conclude that philan- 
thropy required the waters should be stopped, and the long, 


SPEECH. 31 


deep channel, dried. And then, with vivid pictures of drown- 
ing men, and sinking steamers, and submerging homes; with 
song and story, in pulpit and council chamber, he might excite 
the imaginations of a fanatical people, and arouse them to the 
expenditure of labor, and money, and life, to stop the flow of 
that river. And when the high, long obstruction should be 
completed, and the triumphing dreamer should leap to the sum- 
mit, and command the waters—back; the dancing, rushing, 
laughing floods, breaking away on every side, and mocking the 
puny creature, would ery with ten thousand voices : God bid us 
go to the Gulf, and thither we are going, though we deluge a 
continent on the way ! 


So the foolish abolitionist looks upon slavery, and can see 
nothing but its stripes, its labors and its bondage. He will not 
see that for every stripe there are a thousand blessings. He will 
not see that no pauper population of any age in any country was 
ever so well fed, so well clothed, so lightly worked, so comforted 
with home, and so instructed in religion. He will not see that 
this disciplined labor, while it protects society, and keeps the 
negro ia contented, happy subjection, is furnishing food and rai- 
ment to millions all over the world—even to the abolitionist 
himself, and to his children. Therefore, he magnifies the evils 
of slavery. He arouses the imaginations and passions of an un- 
informed and fanatical people. He sets at defiance the solemn 
covenant of a well-considered and time-honored compact of gov- 
ernment. He disrupts society, desecrates the pulpit, defames the 
Senate hall, and prostitutes learning and science. He gathers 
millions of men for sl4ughter, and billions of treasures to be 
wasted. All, all that an easy bondage may be broken, and a 
happy slave turned loose! And suppose, like the dreamer with 
the floods, he shall seem for a time to succeed? Suppose that 
the restraints, which bind four millions of these people to duty, 
shall be withdrawn. Who that knows the negro, or has faith in 
God, does not see the result ? Bright homes will be destroyed, 
rich fields will cease to bear, millions will become hungry and 
naked, society will rush towards barbarism, and government to 
anarchy and despotism. The continent will be deluged in blood ; 
and, after all, the poor scattering negroes, like the uncontrolled 
and uncontrollable waters driven from their natural course, will 


32 SPEECH. 


wander in unknown ways, weakening the more, the farther and 
longer they wander; caring for none, and shunned by all; de- 
stroying and destroyed wherever they go; until at last, they will 
return to the channel of servitude which God marked out for 
them to follow, and will bear, in happy usefulness again, the 
burdens of their destiny. For He who bid the waters go to the 
sea, said also, by His servant, that Canaan should serve his 
brethren. 

Man’s impious devices can no more annul God’s moral decrees 
than his puny arm can subvert God’s physical laws. He may 
pervert and obstruct both for a time, but always with confusion 
and punishment to himself. It was such transgression that put 
death in nature, doomed the Ethiopian to bondage, and filled the 
human heart with sorrows. But He who hath the power will 
also show the merey. And as long as the Mississippi shall roll his 
floods to the Gulf, roaring, in eternal thunders, praises to Him 
by whose command the waters come and go, so long will the 
serving children of Canaan sow and reap in the valley made 
rich by this coming and going; and, happy with food and rai- 
ment, home and family, faith and hope, shall hymn in daily 
thanksgivings, praises to Him whose goodness also made this 
land of the Confederate the African’s paradise ! 

Contending, then, only for what God has approved, and con- 
tending also, for all that rewarded the toils of our fathers, and all 
that can give us hope for our children, let us dedicate all that we 
are and have, anew to the contest. Let us, from this day, think 
no thought, speak no word, do no deed, but for our country, 
until that country shall be free. Let us have no friends but the 
friends of our country ; let us have no enemies, but the enemies 
of our country. 

Who can fall, if his country shall rise? Who would rise, if. 
his country shall fall? Friends, neighbors, countrymen! we 
all, all shall rise if we will only 


‘‘ Onward in faith ! and leave the rest to Heaven.” 








